Emma sat at the kitchen table, her fingers tracing the rim of her coffee mug absentmindedly. The city outside her window seemed to pulse with energy, but inside, there was an uneasy stillness. She had spent the past few days in a haze, trying to reconcile the phone call with her mother and the growing tension within herself. There was so much to unpack, so many emotions vying for her attention that she had barely had time to process everything.
Her mother was coming home. The words echoed in her mind like a drumbeat, steady and unrelenting. At first, Emma had wanted to dismiss it as just another fleeting promise, another one of her mother’s half-hearted attempts at redemption. But now, as the reality of the situation settled in, Emma knew she couldn’t ignore it. Her mother’s return meant
